I have a small Fig plant in a pot...it hasn't fruited yet.... NB: Be careful of the milky caustic plant sap...not good for body contact...wear safety glasses, and gloves....keep it out of your eyes and nostrils
I have a fig in the back yard that the deer sleep under. It got flattened by an ice storm two winters ago, but bounced right back. It needs a good chopping back this winter since it's spread out and eliminated my mowing paths on two sides. It's usually pick and eat, and this year that was mostly when I was trying to squeeze the tractor around it. Good tip on the sap. I'll wait until it's pretty much frozen to do my trimming.
We have a couple of figs in the backyard, that have been there for 40 years or more, but about every 5 years or so it gets nearly killed by the cold weather. Last year, we had a really cold spell that killed everything above ground level. This spring we removed all of the deadwood and kept it watered. It is now 6 foot tall and has small figs on it, but they will not get the chance to ripen before frost. I love the spicy aroma that the leaves give off this time of year. My whole family loves figs, but you can only eat a few before developing GI problems, but we freeze them and make preserves with them.
My Father loved to make wine, beer and moonshine. He made wine out of almost everything that would ferment, and once he made some fig wine. Now my Father didn't like drinking homemade wine and beer, he just liked making alcoholic beverages that the government couldn't tax, and usually gave it away. He gave a carboy full of the fig wine to a guy that lived down the road, and a few days later he told my Father that he, his family and his friends all got drunk and then they all had hangovers and the runs! For years, afterward we would ask him if he wanted some more of that fig wine, but he just said NO!
